Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Personal Blog Passes 1 Million Page Views in 1.6 Years



Thanks to everyone. Thank you so much!


By the time I post this article, this blog will have surpassed 1 million page views in 1.6 years. That's pretty awesome if I say so myself. That may not be the record but it must be pretty close for a guy who just started blogging with no fame or corporate backing to help him out. Thanks so much to everyone. I could never have done it without you all.



Major companies can get a million page views, they have status and name-value. But for a personal blog on a very niche subject like mine (Japan, marketing and media - and in English no less), that is an incredible number. I have asked a few Internet expert friends about it and they told me that it was "amazing." I like to think so.


When it comes to blogging about Japan in English, I would venture to guess that there may not be another 3 or 4 personal blogs in the entire world that have surpassed 1 million views! It is especially rare when you consider that I never blog at all about gadgetry or gaming. (I do know that there was a very excellent ramen one that I passed by one time that did have more than a million views and I've looked for it to show you, but couldn't find it.)


I like blogging. But there is frustration... Well, I should say that blogging, in and of itself, doesn't frustrate me that much but when I am asked for marketing advice (mostly buzz marketing of which blogging is an integral component), the frustration comes in when people (especially corporate types) - just don't seem to understand... They give lip service to blogging and her sister "Organic Marketing", but when push comes to shove, they just don't "get it." They invariably will go back to old ways and pay money to have their paid advertising show their company at the top of a Google search result...


Oh hopelessly lost souls!



You've really got to stop and wonder why in the year 2012, when the Internet is so integral to our lives and thing like, say, Facebook has over 750 users that most corporations have a Marketing section whereby not a single one of them blog... 44% of Japanese companies don't even use Social Media... And those that do, do it poorly... Alas...


These sorts make great bloggers.


Blogging is like being a mad scientist in a laboratory: You are basically on your own trying out different subjects, titles, word combinations, file namings for images, tags and keywords to see what gets good results. There really isn't any textbook for doing this. The closest thing is David Meerman Scott's New Rules of Marketing and PR but that's already nearly five years old! And, in the life of the Internet, five years is ancient history! (By the way, David Meerman Scott and I have corresponded and he greatly encouraged me to start this very blog!)


Here's some of the great things I've learned through blogging over this last year:


1) How to get #1 rankings on a Google search without paying any money


2) How to do the same for images that will lead to your website without paying any money


3) Credibility is very hard to get, it is nearly impossible to buy. Blogging and Organic Marketing are truly credible methods to get the message out.


4) Merely by blogging and experimenting, you will understand more than 98% of all people - even Internet engineers - how marketing works (or doesn't work) on the Internet.




Blogging is a study experience for me. I do this to learn new techinques. Things are always changing the only way to do it is to, well, do it. Like I said, this blog is like my laboratory and I am the mad scientist. I've gotten pretty good at figuring out how this all works... But, I must admit, one thing doesn't change: In Japan, sex and cute sell. 


It frustrates the beans out of me when I write something that I think is really good and intellectually fulfilling, yet it gets few reads; but when I write something with lots of photos of sexy Japanese girls, it will get thousands of reads... Er, maybe i should say, "views" from all over the world. 


But, even that is a learning experience because I know how to take the exact same content and get a few hundred views or get 100,000 views. There is a method to the madness!  


The things that make me happy the most about blogging is getting nice mail and intelligent comments, even if they disagree, and meeting new people. 


Blogging can be exhausting, but it can also be rewarding. Through writing, I think I help myself to become a better person as writing is excellent therapy for the soul. In that way, I suppose, it wouldn't have mattered if I had never even reached 100 readers.


As an old Zen Buddhist saying goes about charcoal ink painting: "The valuable thing is the moment of painting, not the the final picture."


Absolutely the same can be said about blogging.


My next goal is to hit 2 million page views in January 2013. Thank you so very much for your visiting this blog sometimes. I do sincerely appreciate your time and most kind consideration.





NOTE: Finally, please allow me to indulge myself in this self-congratulatory message and to thank my friends who helped me to get here: First off, my friend, Lew Rockwell, who gave me my very first break in blogging in 2004; Koji Kamibayashi "Nihon wo Genki ni Shitai;" My friend Mish Shedlock over at the Global Trend Economic Analysis Blog; Yuka Rogers "Official Blog," David Meerman Scott, Tim Williams,  Jimbo "Jimbo's Japan," Andrew Joseph "It's a Wonderful Rife," Ryu Oni "Monkeyman in Japan," and so many others (especially bloggers) who have come and gone over these last 20 months. Oh and I have to thank Seth Godin for his great books and the one he autographed for me!

Finally, to my friends and to those who are thinking about blogging; Most bloggers don't last more than 2 ~ 3 months. It gets frustrating. You write your heart out and then only three people read what you wrote. In the first two months of this blog, in my archives, I have many tips on how to get more page views, if you are thinking about blogging, or want to know how to get more views, perhaps you can find something useful there. I hope so.

Or, you can do it for yourself... That, my friends, is where, I think, you'll find the real rewards.

Once again, thank you to everyone!


Keywords: page views, buzz, organic, buzz marketing, 1 Million Page Viewstherapy, 1,000,000, hits, reward, page views, Japan blog, amazing, incredible, marketing, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, personal blog, blog, blogging,   

8 comments:

  1. Let me be the first to say "Congratulations"! You write a ton of posts every week on a wide variety of topics, which I'm sure has contributed greatly to your success. Keep up the good work!

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  2. This is one of the best posts that I have ever read over the internet. It has given me a lot of interesting and useful ideas as a webpage owner as well.

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  3. Congratulations! All the best to you and yours! Here's to 10 million more!

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  4. It's in Japanese, but that Yuka Rogers webpage you linked to, wow, talk about a fine lookin' animation.

    The photo on the profile was nice too, the shift from normal-ish looking everyday housewife type vs. the red haired chick,... they Are the same People aren't they?
    Hot... Hot... Hot.

    Lucky dog.

    Also, there's gingerbread men on her page,... the kind that indicate she can cook... Ahh yes, I scroll down and see photos of a child eating,... I can't read the words on that page but I have a pretty good idea what it all means.

    Did I say you were a Lucky dog?

    Heh,... just messing with ya,... but you Are a lucky dog.

    - clark

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  5. Thanks Clark,
    Yeah. I think so. When we were dating, I couldn't believe that I had such a hot girlfriend (and she was a sort of famous TV news announcer/reporter). Here's an old photo in here somewhere: "Yuka".

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  6. Way to go Mike! Beyond the occasional and much appreciated photos of sexy Japanese gals, your blog is interesting and fun and at times provocative. How many others can say that?

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  7. Well done Mike. You're getting better too.

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Comments must be succinct & relevant to the story. Comments are checked frequently and abusive, rude or profane comments will be deleted. I’m just one of many bloggers who answer questions online and sometimes for the press. I usually handle questions about Japan, marketing or the economy, so in those areas I’m more likely to make sense and less likely to say something really stupid. If I post something here that you find helpful or interesting, that’s wonderful. This is my personal blog. If you don't like what you have read here then, just like when you go into a restaurant or bar that allows smoking, if you don't like it, there's something at the front that has hinges on it and it is called a "door."